We left St. John's and headed south, stopping at Ferryland to take in the scenery.

We were headed for St. Vincent, at the bottom of the Avalon peninsula. In St. Vincent, the water drops off deeply just off shore, and it's a popular place to watch whales, since they come in very close to shore. Only thing is, it's almost always hidden in a dense fog. We go to St. Vincent every time we are in Newfoundland, but it's always been so foggy we couldn't even see the beach, let along the water, or any whales. But today is it was clear and sunny! Locals were coming to the beach to watch the whales, and they said it was the first clear day in two weeks.

Unfortunately the pain in my knee had gotten so bad that I couldn't put any weight on my leg at all, so I was stuck in the RV, watching from the window.

Seabirds were diving for the caplin (small fish that the whales come here for), and they are very entertaining to watch. The birds would fly high, then dive straight down, folding their wings in close just before hitting the water with a huge splash. There were even a few whales, but they were next to impossible to photograph.

Where you able to see the whales from the camper? And what type of whale were they please?

That first photo is gorgeous by the way.

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Martha

8/15/2016 04:14:29 pm

Yes, they were humpback whales. There weren't that many - maybe three or four. Mostly you just saw their back fins as they skimmed the surface for air, but three times I saw one do a lateral dive, and then their tails came way up out of the water.

I think it was still a bit early in the season for whales though, as the caplin had just arrived. One of the locals told Jan that there's a famous wildlife photographer who comes every year, and has been able to take the most amazing photos, especially of the whales breaching (jumping right up out of the water) Now that truly would be a sight!

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Martha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes.Read More...